A vehicle of this kind may be equipped with a row of rear seats, generally three in number, which are folding and can occupy one of two longitudinal positions:
a "forward" position in which these rear seats are located immediately behind the front seats, at a sufficient distance therefrom to allow the rear passengers to sit,
a "rear" position in which these rear seats are located further behind these front seats. In addition, the dimensions of the vehicle are such that, when this row of rear seats is in the "forward" position, it is possible to place behind them another row of rear seats, generally comprising two seats, in order to produce a family vehicle.
These known vehicles have a relatively wide interior space, and it is unfortunate that this wide space cannot provide a space to lie down during vacations or trips.
To overcome this disadvantage, applicant has already developed an accessory for such a vehicle, described in his French patent application No. 87 11173. This device is composed of two removable boxes whose width essentially corresponds to the inside width of the vehicle. The first box is designed to form a container which normally remains permanently in the vehicle, while the second box is designed to be located in the free space left between the first box and the row of rear seats in the "forward" position, with the two boxes being closed on the top by two contiguous horizontal panels. In addition, there is provided at least one flat panel which can articulate on the front upper edge of the second box so as to form, with the two horizontal panels, a horizontal plane for lying down when the seats in the row in the "forward" position are folded.
With only the first box in place, these arrangements allow seven persons to be carried. However, such a possibility is unrealistic within the framework of using a vehicle at a campsite because of the lack of sufficient space for seven persons with baggage.
In addition, the applicant has found that the structure of the internal accessory was relatively complicated and therefore inconvenient to operate.
In addition, this device did not make maximum use of the interior space of the vehicle.